Noble Beginnings (Jack Noble, #1) by L.T. Ryan

Noble Beginnings (Jack Noble, #1) Reviews

• 
  Dianne

  Everyone loves “that” hero willing to go above and beyond, knowing they are so deep into black ops that every mission could be their last. They go the extra mile for training, specializing and require the intensity of a brain surgeon in order to survive.
  
  Jack Noble is one of those soldiers, doing what few can do. Betrayal by his own government, as well as the soldiers he was on a mission with make Jack and one member of his team targets, pawns, and the fall guys for a mission horribly and inhumanely gone wrong.
  
  NOBLE BEGINNINGS by L.T. Ryan is a gritty tale of a man in search of justice, truth and the answers he may never get. Why was Jack set up to be a traitor? Who is pulling the strings? Just as he gets closer to the answers he seeks, government officials with the answers start dying and Jack will find he has no one he can trust, unless he makes a deal.
  
  Riveting, intense and for those of us who believe that we do not know what goes on behind the governmental veils of secrecy will find a hero in Jack. From start to finish, this is non-stop, chaotic reading that is not only well-written, but gives just enough information not to sound like some hidden government document!
  
  Are you holding out for a hero who stands against the odds? Meet Jack Noble!
  
  Series: Jack Noble - Book 1
  Publication Date: December 21, 2013
  Publisher: L.T. Ryan
  Genre: Suspense
  Print Length: 224 pages
  Available from:
  Amazon
  For Reviews & More:
  http://tometender.blogspot.com
  
  
• 
  Stephanie

  Poorly written and rather boring. It is a quick read, but I was pretty disappointed in the lack of character development and the simple plot. It was pretty clear about five pages into the story what was going to happen.
  
  The main character, Jack Noble, is very likable which is what saved the book for me. His best friend, Bear, is also easy to like. As for the rest of the characters they are pretty boring and standard for this type of political thriller.
  
  I won't be reading the rest of the series, and I recommend not picking it up. If you like these sort of books just go straight for the best - The Bourne Trilogy. You'll enjoy it much, much more.
• 
  Melodie

  I love legal/political thrillers, so I was looking forward to this one. The story line involving an intelligence operation in Iraq grabbed me right away, the action was non stop. Like most political thrillers, the plot line was a like a ball of tangled Christmas lights. Attention and patience in equal measure are usually rewarded.
  As the story line played out the character became less and less believable to me. And the ending while obviously a tease for the next book in the series, left me cold. Jack Noble has been compared to Jason Bourne. in my opinion, not even close.
  
  
• 
  Mike French

  If you like Jack Reacher and Mitch Rapp,out are going to love Jack Noble! Non-stop action from the beginning till the end. FREE on Kindle.
• 
  liirogue

  Fast-paced and entertaining, but I don't know that I would recommend it. The writing wasn't great but the quick movement of events mostly distracted me from that. The main character is a male Mary Sue and seems to do nothing but constantly get in fights or other kinds of trouble (he can't even visit a grocery store without delivering a beat-down to somebody). He regularly takes a beating but always wins and is never sore afterwards. Sometimes his actions are not in line with the image the author is trying to portray, and he makes mistakes or does certain things that don't quite jive. For example, during one confrontation he tells himself he won't be the first one to engage, and in the next sentence makes the first move. Or he finds himself intimidated by a cell phone that can access email. What guy in his 20s, even in 2002, couldn't figure out mobile email?
  
  The secondary characters orbit around him without really doing or adding much. They pretty much just stand around and wait to be told what to do. They aren't fleshed out at all and merely serve as decoration.
  
  The plot doesn't really make sense. It's obviously some sort of conspiracy, but even at the end it just doesn't add up.
• 
  Trish R.

  
  
  So, this was all about Jack Nobel and his friend and partner Bear that were framed for killing several people in Iraq and making their way back to the states to try and figure out who actually set up the murders. While searching more and more people continued to be killed and Jack and Bear were being blamed.
  
  It was a great story of murder in the military and I’m sure I’ll read more of Jack Nobel’s.
  
  There was no sex and the F-bomb was used 1 time, which is totally ridiculous when you’re talking about the military.
  
  As to the narration: Dennis Holland has a nice reading voice but he’s without emotions. I don’t know how many times the book ended a sentence with “he laughed” and Mr. Holland didn’t! If you’re not going to laugh or whisper or yell or do whatever the book tells you to then you shouldn’t narrate. I will try another Nobel book but if DH hasn’t gotten any better than I’ll be done.
  
• 
  Dad

  This book seemed like a conflation of several characters into a new nobleman. Sorry couldn’t overlook the pun but nonetheless the book was what I wanted while cruising the Galápagos Islands. Not too deep, with action and plot twists. The storyline seemed like an over done plot but this one had some interesting twists to keep my interest through the end. Looking forward to reading #2 to see if it keeps up. More to follow.
• 
  K.M.

  This novel is great as a stand-alone and as something to placate your need for the next installment in the Noble Intentions series. It gives us a look at Jack's past before he became the antihero we all know and love. It also gives us a little more of Jack and Bear, and what could ever be so wrong about that? Nothing at all, in my book. It's another knockout for this author and I'm so glad I stumbled onto his books. I always know that I'm going to enjoy reading what he writes.
• 
  Sally Malkowski

  Noble Beginnings is a "guy" book, I thought, as I prepared to plow through the pages, planning to persevere to the end because it was my husband's turn to pick our read. That thought quickly disappeared by page three as by then. I was hooked. The story line - two Marines involved with the CIA "for the good of all" - was only for openers. So engrossed was I with the tale that I would often go back and reread sections to try and figure out the ending before it was revealed. I signed up for the author's newsletter to be notified of future releases. I am a HUGE Stuart Woods fan. Move over, Stuart, and make room for L.T. Ryan.
• 
  Ed

  Very entertaining fast paced thriller about two Marine Corps boots recruited out of basic training at Parris Island to participate in joint Marine Corps/CIA Special Operations Unit during the Iraq war. Refusing to participate in an unsanctioned murder of an Iraqi family, Jack Noble and his sidekick Bear, are arrested and returned to the brig at Camp LeJuenne, NC by rogue CIA agents intent on framing the two Marines for the murder. They get released but are hunted by parties unknown for mysterious reasons. Jack and the Bear fight back in a desperate attempt to find the truth of the conspiracy and clear their names. My military thriller reading GR friends will very much enjoy reading how these two well drawn characters confront overwhelming odds to not only survive but find who set them up and why.
  
  
• 
  Jasvinder Singh

  Amazing book, It started slow and the pace of the book went steadily, well written and after the first book, I guess I’m onboard now convinced to continue reading this series. Well done
• 
  Apollo Hesiod

  Noble Begiinnings
  
  I really enjoy this series, action and fast paced. I also enjoy the author L.T. Ryan. His writing style is very crisp and fast paced.i recommend this series and author
• 
  Tulay

  Not a good start.
  
  This story points to the desire to invade Iraq, long before the 9/11. Secretive forces, higher up in the government. Innocence families being killed in Iraq, tired and confused CIA and Marines. Back in the Washington D.C., more killings just to cover up.
• 
  Kathy

  Well, I think I prefer to believe that this type of treatment does not happen. Think heads being bashed, bodies kicked in, guns held to heads...and that's just by way of greeting.
  
  A couple of Marines attached to CIA goonier than usual goons in Iraq somehow escape from CIA brutality with their lives to continue into the next book, I suppose. It was a decided contrast for me after spending time in the drawing rooms of 1700's.
  
  Kindle Unlimited
• 
  AC

  One word review: terrible.
  
  Marines Jack Noble (the Noble of the series titles) and Bear are working with a CIA interrogation team in Iraq questioning an Iraqi family when Jack beats up the leader of the team because he wanted Jack to kill them. Or something. Noble gets picked up and asked why he murdered the family, and the two Marines are shuffled from place to place before being sprung from the brig by an officer and run around like idiots trying to figure out what is happening.
  
  The story (and I use that term very loosely) consists of a lot of scenes of these two guys getting handcuffed and put on a plane or in a car or whatever, and hauled around to various places. In all of those scenes, the author makes it very clear that these two are badasses, because the other guys moving them around are always holding a gun on them, we get to hear Jack think about what a badass he is as he considers breaking someone's head, etc. It's macho posturing on the level of Gary Sue.
  
  That's it, really. The first 3/4 of the book involves them either being held/moved or being allowed to waltz right out of a brig(!) after being accused of war crimes.
  
  There's no real plot, the story isn't remotely plausible, and none of the characters has any character. It's right there in the opening:
  
  - the author has these goons in Baghdad in March 2002.
  - Noble is complaining about being left outside as a guard, telling us "the smart ones" (meaning the CIA teams) let him inside
  - the CIA lead is painted as a complete sociopath, who wants the Marines to execute the Iraqi family he's slapping around
  
  There are plenty of groan-inducing/eye-rolling moments throughout this wreck. We didn't go into Iraq until March 2003 and didn't go into Baghdad until April; the earliest these guys would be slapping civilians around is May, 2003. We're constantly being told about what's going through Noble's head, and quite frankly, he sounds like a jackass: he's constantly thinking of how tough he and Bear are and how he could kick anyone's ass. He's either fighting with someone and breaking their arms/kneecaps, or he's about to get into a fight with someone. Naturally, everyone they talk to gets assassinated right after (or during, for Delainey) they talk to him - and it's always a "him" EXCEPT the requisite ex-girlfriend who just happens to be a nurse. Good news for Bear, who gets shot.
  
  Now, keep in mind that the author wants us to know (over and over and over again) that these two were plucked out of recruit training to instead major in spook at the CIA. But these two geniuses can't quite figure out how the bad dudes are finding them so quickly. Gosh, I wonder if driving around in one of your contact's vehicles could be a clue. Of course it is.
  
  To escape the next team sent for them - a team of just two guys in suits, by the way, coming for what are supposedly badass, stone cold killers, who just amble right up the walkway at the girlfriend's house, and who helpfully call the girlfriend's landline to tell Noble they're coming for him and his pal - they all cram into the girlfriend's vehicle. When they're doing this, she's in the driver's seat. Noble tells her he's driving and to move over, at which point she screams and bangs on the wheel, honking the horn in the process. She finally lets him drive and instead of raising the garage door, he just drives through it. Yes, there's nothing like a car horn honking or the blast of a garage door being taken down to help you be discreet in your getaway. The author seems to think the team that had come to get them wouldn't have heard that sort of commotion. He tries to explain it away as a surprise factor to anyone who would have been outside, but that simply does not wash. Unless you're writing terribly implausible things.
  
  There are also other items - weird word usage. Short, declarative sentences. Lots of them. Also sentence fragments. One thing I found twice, author, if you are reading this: a carabiner is what you should have written, not carbineer. These are two very, very different things, and unless your he-man was toting around an infantryman who was holding that key, I'm fairly sure you meant the former.
  
  Anyhow, it all wraps up into some idiotic conspiracy thing run by a general - a Marine who orders the execution of his own men, no less - and Noble of course gets a confession from him on a microrecorder, but his girlfriend, who is somehow capable of dealing with wanted, wounded men appearing in her door, is somehow incapable of burning a CD. Also naturally, nothing can be done about that general, for political reasons, but Noble, in his macho head, just thinks he'll take care of it himself one day.
  
  Then he gets an offer from a guy to work for an agency the guy will not name, and presto: he's back in the workforce, despite being incredibly unsuited for anything other than what he whined about in the opening chapter: being a guard.
  
  Maybe he gains some skill at nuance or tradecraft or self-awareness in the books that follow this one, but since this one makes it clear that he was brought into the CIA "eight years ago", I'm going to doubt that is the case.
• 
  Joyce

  Non-stop action. Jack Noble joined the Marines and was transferred to a special CIA unit before completing basic. Seven years later he and his partner, Bear, are in Iraq when the CIA unit to which he was attached abused a native family who were ultimately found dead. Noble and Bear are accused of the murders. They are transferred back to the US and begin to search for the real killers. Going further into the plot would reveal spoilers, however it serves as a great introduction to a new character for action thrillers. Quick and gripping reading.
• 
  Donadee's Corner

  What can I say that has not been said before! I loved the book from page one on, I was hooked and was not sorry. This book has it all mystery, thrill, romance (a little) and lots of intense action. The characters are real and you can feel it. The action and story line being intense and the feel of real is so thick you can reach out and touch it. The author has a new follower, I will be reading everything he has and waiting for more. I highly recommend this book.
• 
  Clifton

  This was a good read, that drew you in. Who is setting up Jack Noble, and his partner, Bear? What is the reason to throw this duo under the bus, for a crime they didn't commit? I found myself, as I reached the end of a chapter, yearning to find out what happened next. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. Looking forward to the next book.
• 
  Chandru'sGR

  My review of Noble Beginnings
  
  :-) A very nice plot 😊by Ryan that made me feel so emotional at the end!!😓it's a great War story and neatly presented 😊by Ryan.not like other war stories where we take it so slow Ryan made a good job of taking it in fast pace to keep the readers much enaged✌️👏Thanks to the author for such a great "noble" one...
• 
  Rohit Enghakat

  Light and easy read. Nothing to write about much. The story is about a conspiracy involving Marines, CIA, NSA practically the whole bunch of agencies. The climax was a downer. On the whole, the plot required much more depth.
• 
  Angela

  We are on a road trip to the UP, so we needed a shorter audio book. However, this book was so engrossing, we finished it after only two days into our trip. In our opinion, the action plot of book one in a long series is better than the Jack Reacher series.
• 
  Jim A

  Quick paced, quick read. If a reader is an action junkie, this is for you. If the reader is looking for a story with some meat to the plot, you might make another choice.
• 
  ~nikki the recovering book addict

  Umm... what?
  
  I love action, I love mysteries, I love thrillers, although I haven’t read much lately. So I jumped onto this when I saw that not only was this highly rated on Amazon but also read by almost 3000 people.
  
  So...um....3 chapters in and I was starting to lose my enthusiasm for this book because it was way too “easy”, like things were just so easy for Jack. Jumped by his cell mate? No problem, just bash him up a few times and voila! Broken jaw. Cornered in the prison shower by 4 guys? No problem, he can handle all of them!
  
  It read a bit more like an amateur writer than a seasoned author boasting “gripping thrillers loaded with suspense, action, twists and turns”. Yes, it had action. But not so much the suspense and twists and turns. It frustrated me to no end when his informants were dragging out giving him information and they conveniently die JUST before telling him vital information. I mean, come on!! 🤬
  
  Also, the girlfriend, Jessie? What is it with people making up suddenly and without rhyme and reason?? It was all, no, you left me bla bla bla one minute and the next she’s throwing herself in his arms and kissing him silly. And a few chapters later, sorry, I’m leaving. Again 🤯
  
  I’m not really angry about the book. More like disappointed. I mean, the first two chapters were great! I’d be really mad if I had paid for this book but alas, thank goodness it was available on KU. I should probably be mad about wasting my time though. Sigh....
  
  Don’t think I’ll be continuing this series. Maybe I’ll give the author a try next time. Whole knows.
• 
  T.W. Barton

  Just finished reading the first installment of the Jack Nobel series.
  
  I enjoyed the book and would recommended it to those people who like a strong male character who kicks ass which is an instant draw to me.
  
  While Jack Nobel is no Jack Reacher from the popular series by
  Lee Child and the recent movie featuring Tom Cruise he has potential. At times I found myself shaking my head asking why he was taking a beating or why he wasn't smart enough to anticipated seemingly obvious situations but in the end he gets the job done.
  
  The situations were well described and the dialog is relevant and realistic. The only thing missing was more background on the main characters especially as the debut book in the series instead of using future novellas to give the background.
  
  I don't really have any understanding of the main characters other than some very basic information. I don't know what motivates Nobel and/or Bear? Where is the line drawn for them and why? That was the reason for only three stars. I just could never get invested in the characters.
  
  I will be buying the next book in the series and hope to get a better understanding of the characters.
• 
  Carolyn

  The first half of this book seemed one long fist-fight to me, designed to prove that Jack Noble was a tough, testosterone-filled Marine. I got tired of it but I rarely ever quit reading a book that I've started, so kept with it. The last half was where the meat of the plot developed and grew interesting, even suspenseful. You come to have more respect for Jack as he assesses his situation, then takes actions that aren't always so smart or that work to his advantage. Whether through Jack's dialog with the other characters or through his thought process, you understand WHY he does what he does. The novel needs some serious proof-reading, as there are numerous grammatical errors through out, which were distracting to me. I did not much care for the book early on. Even though the plot and action improved, which is why I ultimately rated it 3 stars and not lower, I would not be in a hurry to read the subsequent books in this series. It wasn't awful, but I would not recommend this first book to my friends.
• 
  Ted Tayler

  "Escapism personified"
  
  I enjoy reading a book that appears to divide opinions. I don't know the ins & outs of the technical stuff relating to 'covert ops'. I'm reading for fun, so I don't need to. If I want to escape into a world where the action comes thick & fast, the smell of conspiracy is in the air and with luck, good finally conquers evil, then these Jack Noble thrillers will do for me.
• 
  Lynn Horton

  Because it’s so short, I pushed through Noble Beginnings. I read thriller (Silva, Thor, Baldacci, etc.), and didn’t enjoy Noble Beginnings nearly as much as books by the aforementioned authors. The character development is weak at best, and the writing is “telling rather than showing,” and very choppy.
  
  I don’t need to read another Jack Noble book.
• 
  Mark Miller

  No plot, no clue
  
  With 30% of the book gone and no plot, I gave up. Mr. Ryan, Marines who don't complete recruit training are called civilians. I'm insulted by the author's attempt at portraying Marines as incompetent and corrupt. I definitely don't recommend this book..